More data needed

The proposed June public hearing for the College Drive reconstruction project may be delayed if financial data is not available in time.

College Drive background

The original $7.9 million project recommended by the project management team and approved by the council called for a four-lane divided roadway; roundabout intersections at Mississippi River Parkway, Southwest Fourth Street and South Fourth Street; a 10-foot paved trail from Crow Wing County Road 48 to Quince Street; a 6-foot sidewalk from Mississippi River Parkway to Southwest Fourth Street; a pedestrian underpass under the bridge over the Mississippi River; a backage road to access apartments on College Drive; signal lights at Quince Street; street, pedestrian and underpass lighting; landscaping and pedestrian barriers; and other improvements.

In an informal committee meeting Friday, members of the Brainerd Safety and Public Works Committee met with major stakeholders - the Brainerd School District, Central Lakes College and Colony Inn Apartment complex owners - in the College Drive reconstruction project.

The group looked at project alternatives that ranged from $5,543,371 to $7,406,979. The project is proposed to cover about a mile of College Drive, from Quince Street near Brainerd High School to Crow Wing County Road 48 west of Central Lakes College. The purpose of the project is to improve safety and traffic flow.

The question for the city council is the project cost, what kind of transportation the city will provide and what it will look like.

The option most favorably supported by staff and the project management team is the $7,406,979 and includes a full bridge modification with a pedestrian underpass.

Council members Bob Olson, Lucy Nesheim and Bonnie Cumberland were present as committee members. Council members Anne Nelson Fisher and Mary Koep also attended.

The city is still waiting for state approval on the project memo and won't be breaking ground for the project this fall.

At issue for the school district and the college was a lack of information on specific dollar amounts associated with dedicating permanent easements to the city to save the cost of buying right-of-way. The detailed data for the easement dollar picture is expected to be available once the state responds to the project memo.

If subsequent cost information is not available, Olson suggested the planned public hearing at 7:30 p.m. June 21 during the city council meeting be postponed. The council likely will make a decision about the public hearing at its regular June 7 council meeting.

The group discussed specifics, such as staff recommendation of an assessment rate of $40 per front foot based on the city's established assessment policy for residential road reconstruction. Staff is also recommending the adjacent property owners pay for new sidewalk on the south side from County Road 48 to Southwest Fourth Street. The apartment complex owners were assured they would not have to pay to connect to the backage road as they are giving up front access to College Drive, but they are expected to have an assessment for the front footage. A 5-acre parcel north of the planned backage road is expected to benefit and the city is proposing assessing half the cost of the road's construction.

Jeff Hulsether, city engineer, said a signal light is being proposed at Fifth and Quince streets to regulate traffic with a 50/50 cost sharing with the school district.

With the proposed changes, the city estimates the school district's assessment would be $211,789 or 2.9 percent of the project cost. The college's estimated assessment would be about $359,429 or 4.8 percent of the project cost. Olson said it was an option to share the cost with those who are benefiting from the improvements. Assessments could be spread out for a 10-year period.

With the proposal, Hulsether said the city could use state aid bonding of $1,580,000 with a 10-year amortization schedule and will gain $350,000 of state aid allocation each year for state-aid street projects. Hulsether said in road projects that money doesn't go far but it could resurface areas such as Willow Street between Sixth and 13th streets, North Fourth from Laurel to Washington streets and South Fifth from Laurel to Quince.

Nesheim said College Drive is an important arterial roadway and the time couldn't be better in terms of construction bids and the bond market.

"The time is now and it's the best time," Nesheim said.

A traffic study in 2008 found College Drive was averaging 15,000 vehicles per day.

When the group discussed the streetscape, Mark Ostgarden, city planner, urged the group to consider more than just the movement of vehicles.

"It's not only about moving cars," Ostgarden said. "This is also about moving people in our community."

Ostgarden said moving pedestrians, bicycles and transit also needs to be considered. Irrigation and lighting cutbacks amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars were previously made, Ostgarden said, but he added this project was a chance to create an attractive entrance to the city for the future.

"I hope we don't take a step back," he said.

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.